This is just an Excerpt from a larger document, click here to view the entire document.Background and Concepts
Statistical tools are designed to analyze the distribution characteristics of some population based on a sample drawn from the population. For "one-shot" devices, acceptance sampling is a statistical method used to predict the probability of success, or reliability, by estimating an attribute of the population through a sample. An attribute is an inherent characteristic that is evaluated in terms of whether or not the product performs as designed. Test results are measured by determining if the product was good or bad, passed or failed, etc. Non-conformance of the product characteristic is generally expressed as a proportion defective. Proportion defective is the number of failures that occurred in a sample size divided by the sample size.
Attribute sampling uses the binomial equation to test a hypothesis that a product has an acceptable defective rate at some acceptable level of risk. For "one-shot" devices, the object is to verify that the probability of success, when the device is called upon to function, is satisfactory at some desired level of confidence.
